Marnes de Dives | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Late | |
Type | Geological formation |
Underlies | Marnes de Villers |
Thickness | 8–10 metres (30–30 ft) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Marl |
Other | Limestone |
Location | |
Region | Normandy |
Country | France |
Extent | Paris Basin |
Type section | |
Named for | Dives-sur-Mer |
The Marnes de Dives is a geological formation in Normandy, France. It dates back to the upper part of the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic. [1] And is partially equivalent to the Oxford Clay in England. It predominantly consists of ooidal marl, rich in pyrite and lignite, interbedded with thin limestone horizons. [2] It is best exposed at the base of the Falaises des Vaches Noires (Cliffs of Black Cows) as well as the foreshore at low tide. It is known for its fossils, notably those of ammonites, marine crocodiles and fragmentary remains of dinosaurs, mostly theropods.
Dinosaurs of the Marnes de Dives | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Taxa | Species | Presence | Description | Images | |
Piveteausaurus [1] | P. divesensis | Vaches Noires | Braincase. [3] | ||
Streptospondylus | S. altdorfensis | Vaches Noires [4] | Megalosaurid dinosaur. Originally a chimera of dinosaur and marine crocodile material. redefined to solely refer to the syntype dinosaur material consisting of "several vertebrae series, single vertebrae, a partial left pubis and limb elements". May be from the overlying Marnes de Villers, but the Marnes de Dives is much more productive and was better exposed when it was collected in the 18th century. | ||
Sauropoda | Indeterminate | Vaches Noires | Remains consist of a single vertebra, destroyed in 1944, may be from the overlying Marnes de Villers [5] | ||
Stegosauria | Indeterminate | Vaches Noires | Remains consist of 2 associated vertebra in hard limestone [6] | ||
Theropoda [1] | Indeterminate | Vaches Noires | Multiple taxa represented, including indeterminate megalosaurid material possibly referrable to the two named taxa alongside fragmentary remains of Allosauroids, [7] Including dentary and maxilla fragments. Other theropod remains include an associated braincase and frontal. [8] [9] Allosauroid material bears similarities to metriacanthosaurids. Material is of unclear stratigraphic provenance, and may belong to overlying cliff strata. [10] | ||
Crocodyliformes of the Marnes de Dives | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Taxa | Species | Presence | Description | Images | |
Tyrannoneustes [11] | T. lythrodectikos | Vaches Noires | A geosaurine metriorhynchid | ||
Metriorhynchus | M. geoffroyii | Vaches Noires | A metriorhynchine metriorhynchid | ||
Neosteneosaurus | N. edwardsi | Villers-sur-Mer | A machimosaurid thalattosuchian | ||
Proexochokefalos | P. heberti | Villers-sur-Mer | A machimosaurid thalattosuchian | ||
Thalattosuchus [12] | T. superciliosus | Villers-sur-Mer | A metriorhynchine metriorhynchid |
Ichthyosaurs of the Marnes de Dives | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Taxa | Species | Presence | Description | Images | |
Ophthalmosaurus | Indeterminate [13] | Vaches Noires | A ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur |
Fish of the Marnes de Dives [14] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Taxa | Species | Presence | Description | Images |
Leedsichthys [15] | L. problematicus | Vaches Noires | A giant pachycormiform fish, may be from overlying Marnes de Villiers | |
Trachymetopon | Indeterminate | A giant coelacanth | ||
cf. Hypsocormus | Indeterminate | A pachycormid fish | ||
Pycnodontiformes | Indeterminate | |||
Lepidotidae | Indeterminate | A ginglymodian | ||
Ichthyodectiformes | Indeterminate | A stem-group teleost |
Villers-sur-Mer is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy, northwestern France, with a population of 2,644 as of 2017.
The Oxford Clay is a Jurassic marine sedimentary rock formation underlying much of southeast England, from as far west as Dorset and as far north as Yorkshire. The Oxford Clay Formation dates to the Jurassic, specifically, the Callovian and Oxfordian ages, and comprises two main facies. The lower facies comprises the Peterborough Member, a fossiliferous organic-rich mudstone. This facies and its rocks are commonly known as lower Oxford Clay. The upper facies comprises the middle Oxford Clay, the Stewartby Member, and the upper Oxford Clay, the Weymouth Member. The upper facies is a fossil poor assemblage of calcareous mudstones.
Lexovisaurus is a genus of stegosaur from mid-to-Late Jurassic Europe, 165.7-164.7 mya. Fossils of limb bones and armor fragments have been found in middle to late Jurassic-aged strata of England and France.
Betasuchus is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous Period. Betasuchus is, besides Orthomerus, the only dinosaur genus named from remains found in the Netherlands and the only non-avian theropod found in the Maastrichtian Beds.
Neosodon was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Late Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Sables et Gres a Trigonia gibbosa of Pas-de-Calais department, France. It has never been formally given a species name, but is often seen as N. praecursor, which actually comes from a different animal. Often in the past, it had been assigned to the wastebasket taxon Pelorosaurus, but restudy has suggested that it could be related to Turiasaurus, a roughly contemporaneous giant Spanish sauropod. It is only known from six teeth.
Metriacanthosauridae is an extinct family of allosauroid theropod dinosaurs that lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. The family is split into two subgroups: Metriacanthosaurinae, which includes dinosaurs closely related to Metriacanthosaurus, and another group composed of the close relatives of Yangchuanosaurus. Metriacanthosaurids are considered carnosaurs, belonging to the Allosauroidea superfamily. The group includes species of large range in body size. Of their physical traits, most notable are their neural spines. The records of the group are mostly confined to Asia, though Metriacanthosaurus is known from Europe. Metriacanthosauridae is used as a senior synonym of Sinraptoridae.
Lapparentosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic. Its fossils were found in Madagascar. The type species is L. madagascariensis.
Piveteausaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur known from a partial skull discovered in the Middle Jurassic Marnes de Dives formation of Calvados, in northern France and lived about 164.7-161.2 million years ago. In 2012 Thomas Holtz gave a possible length of 11 meters.
Streptospondylus is a genus of tetanuran theropod dinosaur known from the Late Jurassic period of France, 161 million years ago. It was a medium-sized predator with an estimated length of 6 meters (19.5 ft) and a weight of 500 kg (1,100 lbs).
Poekilopleuron is a genus of carnosaurian theropod dinosaur, which lived during the middle Bathonian of the Jurassic, about 168 to 166 million years ago. The genus has been used under many different spelling variants, although only one, Poekilopleuron, is valid. The type species is P. bucklandii, named after William Buckland, and many junior synonyms of it have also been erected. Little material is currently known, as the holotype was destroyed in World War II, although many casts of the material still exist.
Steneosaurus is a dubious genus of teleosaurid crocodyliform from the Middle or Late Jurassic of France. The genus has been used as a wastebasket taxon for thalattosuchian fossils for over two centuries, and almost all known historical species of teleosauroid have been included within it at one point. The genus has remained a wastebasket, with numerous species still included under the label ‘Steneosaurus’, many of which are unrelated to each other.
The Argiles d'Octeville is a geological formation in Normandy, France. It dates back to the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic. It is equivalent to the Kimmeridge Clay in England and predominantly consists of claystone, with some limestone. It is well exposed in cliff section at Cap de la Hève
Trachymetopon is an extinct genus of prehistoric coelacanth from the Jurassic of Europe. Fossils have been found in the Early Jurassic Posidonia Shale of Germany the Middle Jurassic Marnes de Dives of France, and probably the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay of England. Only one species has been named, Trachymetopon liassicum, described by Henning in 1951 from an almost complete specimen found in the Lower Toarcian of Ohmden in Baden-Württemberg. Another specimen is known from the same site, and two older specimens come from the Sinemurian of Holzmaden. The holotype of this species is 1.6 metres in length. A giant specimen of an undetermined species of Trachymetopon found at the Middle Jurassic Falaises des Vaches Noires of Normandy. This specimen, composed of a 53 cm long palatoquadrate, belongs to an individual 4 metres (13 ft) in length. A basisphenoid found in a museum in Switzerland that likely originates from the same locaity probably belonged to an individual around 5 m (16 ft) long, making Trachymetopon the largest of all coelacanths alongside Mawsonia. A study published in 2015 revealed that this coelacanth belongs to the Mawsoniidae. Trachymetopon is one of the few known mawsoniids to have been exclusively marine, while most of the other members of the group have lived in fresh and brackish waters.
The Tilougguit Formation, also known as the Tillouguit Formation, is an Early Bathonian geologic formation in Morocco. An indeterminate sauropod is known from the formation
The Bhuj Formation is a Mesozoic geologic formation in India. Fossil sauropod tracks and tracks from the ichnogenera Skolithos, Diplocraterion, Pholeus and Planolites have been reported from the formation.
Eugène Eudes-Deslongchamps was a French paleontologist and naturalist born in Caen, the son of paleontologist Jacques Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps (1794–1867). He died at Château Matthieu, Calvados.
The Marnes de Villers is a geologic formation in France. It preserves fossils dating back to the Late Jurassic period.
The El Mers Group is a geological group in the Middle Atlas of Morocco. It is subdivided into three formations named the El Mers I, II, and III Formations, respectively. It is a marine deposit primarily consisting of marl, with gypsum present in the upper part of unit 3. It is the lateral equivalent of the terrestrial Guettioua Sandstone. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the group, most notably those of sauropods and the unusual thyreophorans Adratiklit, Thyreosaurus, and Spicomellus.
Proexochokefalos is an extinct genus of machimosaurid teleosauroid from the Jurassic of France
Thalattosuchus is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform that lived in the oceans during the Middle to Late Jurassic. Thalattosuchus was named in 2020. Thalattosuchus was a carnivore that spent much, if not all, its life out at sea. No Thalattosuchus eggs or nests have been discovered, so little is known of the reptile's life cycle, unlike other large marine reptiles of the Mesozoic, such as plesiosaurs or ichthyosaurs which are known to have given birth to live young out at sea. Where Thalattosuchus mated, whether on land or at sea, is currently unknown. The name Thalattosuchus means "sea crocodile".